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[Picture: Tartar and Chinese customes]
[Picture: Title page]
TRAVELS
IN
TARTARY, THIBET, AND CHINA,
DURING THE YEARS 1844-5-6.
BY M. HUC.
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY W. HAZLITT.
VOL. I.
* * * * *
ILLUSTRATED WITH FIFTY ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD.
* * * * *
* * * * *
LONDON:
OFFICE OF THE NATIONAL ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY,
227 STRAND.
[Picture: Decorative graphic]
LONDON:
VIZETELLY AND COMPANY, PRINTERS AND ENGRAVERS,
PETERBOROUGH COURT, FLEET STREET.
PREFACE.
The Pope having, about the year 1844, been pleased to establish an
Apostolic Vicariat of Mongolia, it was considered expedient, with a view
to further operations, to ascertain the nature and extent of the diocese
thus created, and MM. Gabet and Huc, two Lazarists attached to the petty
mission of Si-Wang, were accordingly deputed to collect the necessary
information. They made their way through difficulties which nothing but
religious enthusiasm in combination with French elasticity could have
overcome, to Lha-Ssa, the capital of Thibet, and in this seat of Lamanism
were becoming comfortably settled, with lively hopes and expectations of
converting the Tale-Lama into a branch-Pope, when the Chinese Minister,
the noted Ke-Shen, interposed on political grounds, and had them deported
to China. M. Gabet was directed by his superiors to proceed to France,
and lay a complaint before his Government, of the arbitrary treatment
which he and his fellow Missionary had experienced. In the steamer which
conveyed him from Hong Kong to Ceylon, he found Mr. Alexander Johnstone,
secretary to Her Majesty's Plenipotentiary in China; and this gentleman
perceived so much, not merely of entertainment, but of important
information in the conversations he had with M. Gabet, that he committed
to paper the leading features of the Reverend Missionary's statements,
and on his return to his official post, gave his manuscripts to Sir John
Davis, who, in his turn, considered their contents so interesting, that
he embodied a copy of them in a dispatch to Lord Palmerston.
Subsequently the two volumes, here translated, were prepared by M. Huc,
and published in Paris. Thus it is, that to Papal aggression in the
East, the Western World is indebted for a work exhibiting, for the first
time, a complete representation of countries previously almost unknown to
Europeans, and indeed considered practically inaccessible; and of a
religion which, followed by no fewer than 170,000,000 persons, presents
the most singular analogies in its leading features with the Catholicism
of Rome.
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.
PAGE
PREFACE
CONTENTS iii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS vii
CHAPTER I.
French Mission of Peking--Glance at the Kingdom of 9
Ouniot--Preparations for Departure--Tartar-Chinese
Inn--Change of Costume--Portrait and Character of
Samdadchiemba--Sain-Oula (the Good Mountain)--The Frosts
on Sain-Oula, and its Robbers--First Encampment in the
Desert--Great Imperial Forest--Buddhist Monuments on the
summit of the Mountains--Topography of the Kingdom of
Gechekten--Character of its Inhabitants--Tragical working
of a Mine--Two Mongols desire to have their horoscope
taken--Adventure of Samdadchiemba--Environs of the town of
Tolon-Noor
CHAPTER II.
Inn at Tolon-Noor--Aspect of the City--Great Foundries of 33
Bells and Idols--Conversation with the Lamas of
Tolon-Noor--Encampment--Tea Bricks--Meeting with Queen
Mourguevan--Taste of the Mongols for Pilgrimages--Violent
Storm--Account from a Mongol Chief of the War of the
English against China--Topography of the Eight Banners of
the Tchakar--The Imperial Herds--Form and Interior of the
Tents--Tartar Manners and Customs--Encampment at the Three
Lakes--Nocturnal Apparitions--Samdadchiemba relates the
Adventures of his Youth--Grey Squirrels of
Tartary--Arrival at Chaborte
CHAPTER III.
Festival of the Loaves of the Moon--Entertainment in a 61
Mongol Tent--Toolholos, or Rhapsodists of
Tartary--Invocation to Timour--Tartar Education--Industry
of the Women--Mongols in quest of missing Animals--Remains
of an abandoned City--Road from Peking to
Kiaktha--Commerce between China and Russia--Russian
Convent at Peking--A Tartar solicits us to cure his Mother
from a dangerous Illness--Tartar Physicians--The
Intermittent Fever Devil--Various forms of Sepulture in
use among the Mongols--Lamasery of the Five
Towers--Obsequies of the Tartar Kings--Origin of the
kingdom of Efe--Gymnastic Exercises of the
Tartars--Encounter with three Wolves--Mongol Carts
CHAPTER IV.
Young Lama converted to Christianity--Lamasery of 85
Tchortchi--Alms for the Construction of Religious
Houses--Aspect of the Buddhist Temples--Recitation of Lama
Prayers--Decorations, Paintings, and Sculptures of the
Buddhist Temples--Topography of the Great Kouren in the
country of the Khalkhas--Journey of the Guison-Tamba to
Peking--The Kouren of the Thousand Lamas--Suit between the
Lama-King and his Ministers--Purchase of a Kid--Eagles of
Tartary--Western Toumet--Agricultural Tartars--Arrival at
the Blue Town--Glance at the Mantchou Nation--Mantchou
Literature--State of Christianity in
Mantchouria--Topography and productions of Eastern
Tartary--Skill of the Mantchous with the Bow
CHAPTER V.
The Old Blue Town--Quarter of the Tanners--Knavery of the 109
Chinese Traders--Hotel of the Three
Perfections--Spoliation of the Tartars by the
Chinese--Money Changer's Office--Tartar Coiner--Purchase
of two Sheep-skin Robes--Camel Market--Customs of the
Cameleers--Assassination of a Grand Lama of the Blue
Town--Insurrection of the Lamaseries--Negociation between
the Court of Peking and that of Lha-Ssa--Domestic
Lamas--Wandering Lamas--Lamas in Community--Policy of the
Mantchou Dynasty with reference to the
Lamaseries--Interview with a Thibetian Lama--Departure
from the Blue Town
CHAPTER VI.
A Tartar-eater--Loss of Arsalan--Great Caravan of 128
Camels--Night Arrival at Tchagan-Kouren--We are refused
Admission into the Inns--We take up our abode with a
Shepherd--Overflow of the Yellow River-Aspect of
Tchagan-Kouren--Departure across the Marshes--Hiring a
Bark--Arrival on the Banks of the Yellow River--Encampment
under the Portico of a Pagoda--Embarkation of the
Camels--Passage of the Yellow River--Laborious Journey
across the Inundated Country--Encampment on the Banks of
the River
CHAPTER VII.
Mercurial Preparation for the Destruction of 147
Lice--Dirtiness of the Mongols--Lama Notions about the
Metempsychosis--Washing--Regulations of Nomadic
Life--Aquatic and Passage Birds--The Yuen-Yang--The
Dragon's Foot--Fishermen of the Paga-Gol--Fishing
Party--Fisherman Bit by a Dog--Kou-Kouo, or St. Ignatius's
Bean--Preparations for Departure--Passage of the
Paga-Gol--Dangers of the Voyage--Devotion of
Samdadchiemba--The Prime Minister of the King of the
Ortous--Encampment
CHAPTER VIII.
Glance at the Country of the Ortous--Cultivated 165
Lands--Sterile, sandy steppes of the Ortous--Form of the
Tartar-Mongol Government--Nobility--Slavery--A small
Lamasery--Election and Enthronization of a Living
Buddha--Discipline of the Lamaseries--Lama
Studies--Violent Storm--Shelter in some Artificial
Grottoes--Tartar concealed in a Cavern--Tartaro-Chinese
Anecdote--Ceremonies of Tartar
Marriages--Polygamy--Divorce--Character and Costume of the
Mongol Women
CHAPTER IX.
Departure of the Caravan--Encampment in a fertile 188
Valley--Intensity of the Cold--Meeting with numerous
Pilgrims--Barbarous and Diabolical Ceremonies of
Lamanism--Project for the Lamasery of
Rache-Tchurin--Dispersion and rallying of the little
Caravan--Anger of Samdadchiemba--Aspect of the Lamasery of
Rache-Tchurin--Different Kinds of Pilgrimages around the
Lamaseries--Turning Prayers--Quarrel between two
Lamas--Similarity of the Soil--Description of the
Tabsoun-Noor or Salt Sea--Remarks on the Camels of Tartary
CHAPTER X.
Purchase of a Sheep--A Mongol Butcher--Great Feast _a la 210
Tartare_--Tartar Veterinary Surgeons--Strange Cure of a
Cow--Depth of the Wells of the Ortous--Manner of Watering
the Animals--Encampment at the Hundred Wells--Meeting with
the King of the Alechan--Annual Embassies of the Tartar
Sovereigns to Peking--Grand Ceremony in the Temple of the
Ancestors--The Emperor gives Counterfeit Money to the
Mongol Kings--Inspection of our Geographical Map--The
Devils Cistern--Purification of the Water--A Lame
Dog--Curious Aspect of the Mountains--Passage of the
Yellow River
CHAPTER XI.
Sketch of the Tartar Nations 237
CHAPTER XII.
Hotel of Justice and Mercy--Province of 262
Kan-Sou--Agriculture--Great Works for the Irrigation of
the Fields--Manner of Living in Inns--Great Confusion in a
Town caused by our Camels--Chinese Lifeguard--Mandarin
Inspector of the Public Works--Ning-Hia--Historical and
Topographical Details--Inn of the Five Felicities--Contest
with a Mandarin, Tchong-Wei--Immense Mountains of
Sand--Road to Ili--Unfavourable aspect of
Kao-Tan-Dze--Glance at the Great Wall--Inquiry after the
Passports--Tartars travelling in China--Dreadful
Hurricane--Origin and Manners of the Inhabitants of
Kan-Sou--The Dchiahours--Interview with a Living
Buddha--Hotel of the Temperate Climates--Family of
Samdadchiemba--Mountain of Ping-Keou--Fight between an
Innkeeper and his
Wife--Water-mills--Knitting--Si-Ning-Fou--House of
Rest--Arrival at Tang-Keou-Eul
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
Frontispiece, Chinese and Tartar Costumes
Title-page, Portraits of MM. Gabet and Huc
View of the City of Peking 9
The Travellers setting out on their Journey 15
Kang of a Tartar-Chinese Inn 17
The Missionaries in their Lamanesque Costumes 19
Portrait of Samdadchiemba 20
Mountain of Sain-Oula 21
First Encampment 23
Buddhist Monuments 25
Military Mandarin 28
Chinese Idol 32
View of the City of Tolon-Noor 33
Bell and Idol Foundry 36
The Queen of Mourguevan 40
The Emperor Tao-Kouang 44
Tartar Encampment 48
Interior of a Tartar Tent 50
Russian Convent at Peking 61
Lamasery of the Five Towers 79
Lamasery of Tchortchi 85
Buddhist Temple 87
Interior of Buddhist Temple 89
Tartar Agriculturist 98
Chinese Soldier 100
Chinese Money-changers 109
The Camel Market 121
Vagabond Lamas 124
View of Tchagan-Kouren 128
Caravan crossing the Desert 132
Navigation of the Yellow River 139
Camel of Tartary 146
Water-fowl and Birds of Passage 147
A Fishing Party 155
Election of a Living Buddha 165
The Steppes of Ortous 168
Caves of the Ortous 180
Barbarous Lamanesque Ceremony 188
Lamasery of Rache-Tchurin 201
Turning Prayers 203
Mongol Butcher 210
Encampment at the Hundred Wells 222
Grand Ceremony at the Ancestral Temple 227
Chinese Idol 236
Chinese and Tartar Arms 237
Chinese Princess 253
Chinese Caricature 261
Irrigation of the Fields 262
Root of the Jin-Seng 293
[Picture: Peking]
CHAPTER I.
French Mission of Peking--Glance at the Kingdom of _Ouniot_--Preparations
for Departure--Tartar-Chinese Inn--Change of Costume--Portrait and
Character of Samdadchiemba--_Sain-Oula_ (the Good Mountain)--The Frosts
on Sain-Oula, and its Robbers--First Encampment in the Desert--Great
Imperial Forest--Buddhist monuments on the summit of the
mountains--Topography of the Kingdom of _Gechekten_--Character of its
Inhabitants--Tragical working of a Mine--Two Mongols desire to have their
horoscope taken--Adventure of Samdadchiemba--Environs of the town of
_Tolon-Noor_.
[Picture: Missionaries at Peking]
The French mission of Peking, once so flourishing under the early
emperors of the Tartar-Mantchou dynasty, was almost extirpated by the
constant persecutions of Kia-King, the fifth monarch of that dynasty, who
ascended the throne in 1799. The missionaries were dispersed or put to
death, and at that time Europe was herself too deeply agitated to enable
her to send succour to this distant Christendom, which remained for a
time abandoned. Accordingly, when the French Lazarists re-appeared at
Peking, they found there scarce a vestige of the true faith. A great
number of Christians, to avoid the persecutions of the Chinese
authorities, had passed the Great Wall, and sought peace and liberty in
the deserts of Tartary, where they lived dispersed upon small patches of
land which the Mongols permitted them to cultivate. By dint of
perseverance the missionaries collected together these dispersed
Christians, placed themselves at their head, and hence superintended the
mission of Peking, the immediate administration of which was in the hands
of a few Chinese Lazarists. The French missionaries could not, with any
prudence, have resumed their former position in the capital of the
empire. Their presence would have compromised the prospects of the
scarcely reviving mission.
In visiting the Chinese Christians of Mongolia, we more than once had
occasion to make excursions into the Land of Grass, (_Isao-Ti_), as the
uncultivated portions of Tartary are designated, and to take up our
temporary abode beneath the tents of the Mongols. We were no sooner
acquainted with this nomadic people, than we loved them, and our hearts
were filled with a passionate desire to announce the gospel to them. Our
whole leisure was therefore devoted to acquiring the Tartar dialects, and
in 1842, the Holy See at length fulfilled our desires, by erecting
Mongolia into an Apostolical Vicariat.
Towards the commencement of the year 1844, couriers arrived at Si-wang, a
small Christian community, where the vicar apostolic of Mongolia had
fixed his episcopal residence. Si-wang itself is a village, north of the
Great Wall, one day's journey from Suen-hoa-Fou. The prelate sent us
instructions for an extended voyage we were to undertake for the purpose
of studying the character and manners of the Tartars, and of ascertaining
as nearly as possible the extent and limits of the Vicariat. This
journey, then, which we had so long meditated, was now determined upon;
and we sent a young Lama convert in search of some camels which we had
put to pasture in the kingdom of Naiman. Pending his absence, we
hastened the completion of several Mongol works, the translation of which
had occupied us for a considerable time. Our little books of prayer and
doctrine were ready, still our young Lama had not returned; but thinking
he could not delay much longer, we quitted the valley of Black Waters
(_He-Chuy_), and proceeded on to await his arrival at the Contiguous
Defiles (_Pie-lie-Keou_) which seemed more favourable for the completion
of our preparations. The days passed away in futile expectation; the
coolness of the autumn was becoming somewhat biting, and we feared that
we should have to begin our journey across the deserts of Tartary during
the frosts of winter. We determined, therefore, to dispatch some one in
quest of our camels and our Lama. A friendly catechist, a good walker
and a man of expedition, proceeded on this mission. On the day fixed for
that purpose he returned; his researches had been wholly without result.
All he had ascertained at the place which he had visited was, that our
Lama had started several days before with our camels. The surprise of
our courier was extreme when he found that the Lama had not reached us
before himself. "What!" exclaimed he, "are my legs quicker than a
camel's! They left Naiman before me, and here I am arrived before them!
My spiritual fathers, have patience for another day. I'll answer that
both Lama and camels will be here in that time." Several days, however,
passed away, and we were still in the same position. We once more
dispatched the courier in search of the Lama, enjoining him to proceed to
the very place where the camels had been put to pasture, to examine
things with his own eyes, and not to trust to any statement that other
people might make.
During this interval of painful suspense, we continued to inhabit the
Contiguous Defiles, a Tartar district dependent on the kingdom of Ouniot.
{11} These regions appear to have been affected by great revolutions.
The present inhabitants state that, in the olden time, the country was
occupied by Corean tribes, who, expelled thence in the course of various
wars, took refuge in the peninsula which they still possess, between the
Yellow Sea and the sea of Japan. You often, in these parts of Tartary,
meet with the remains of great towns, and the ruins of fortresses, very
nearly resembling those of the middle ages in Europe, and, upon turning
up the soil in these places, it is not unusual to find lances, arrows,
portions of farming implements, and urns filled with Corean money.
Towards the middle of the 17th century, the Chinese began to penetrate
into this district. At that period, the whole landscape was still one of
rude grandeur; the mountains were covered with fine forests, and the
Mongol tents whitened the valleys, amid rich pasturages. For a very
moderate sum the Chinese obtained permission to cultivate the desert, and
as cultivation advanced, the Mongols were obliged to retreat, conducting
their flocks and herds elsewhere.
From that time forth, the aspect of the country became entirely changed.
All the trees were grubbed up, the forests disappeared from the hills,
the prairies were cleared by means of fire, and the new cultivators set
busily to work in exhausting the fecundity of the soil. Almost the
entire region is now in the hands of the Chinese, and it is probably to
their system of devastation that we must attribute the extreme
irregularity of the seasons which now desolate this unhappy land.
Droughts are of almost annual occurrence; the spring winds setting in,
dry up the soil; the heavens assume a sinister aspect, and the
unfortunate population await, in utter terror, the manifestation of some
terrible calamity; the winds by degrees redouble their violence, and
sometimes continue to blow far into the summer months. Then the dust
rises in clouds, the atmosphere becomes thick and dark; and often, at
mid-day, you are environed with the terrors of night, or rather, with an
intense and almost palpable blackness, a thousand times more fearful than
the most sombre night. Next after these hurricanes comes the rain: but
so comes, that instead of being an object of desire, it is an object of
dread, for it pours down in furious raging torrents. Sometimes the
heavens suddenly opening, pour forth in, as it were, an immense cascade,
all the water with which they are charged in that quarter; and
immediately the fields and their crops disappear under a sea of mud,
whose enormous waves follow the course of the valleys, and carry
everything before them. The torrent rushes on, and in a few hours the
earth reappears; but the crops are gone, and worse even than that, the
arable soil also has gone with them. Nothing remains but a ramification
of deep ruts, filled with gravel, and thenceforth incapable of being
ploughed.
Hail is of frequent occurrence in these unhappy districts, and the
dimensions of the hailstones are generally enormous. We have ourselves
seen some that weighed twelve pounds. One moment sometimes suffices to
exterminate whole flocks. In 1843, during one of these storms, there was
heard in the air a sound as of a rushing wind, and therewith fell, in a
field near a house, a mass of ice larger than an ordinary millstone. It
was broken to pieces with hatchets, yet, though the sun burned fiercely,
three days elapsed before these pieces entirely melted.
The droughts and the inundations together, sometimes occasion famines
which well nigh exterminate the inhabitants. That of 1832, in the
twelfth year of the reign of _Tao-Kouang_, {12} is the most terrible of
these on record. The Chinese report that it was everywhere announced by
a general presentiment, the exact nature of which no one could explain or
comprehend. During the winter of 1831, a dark rumour grew into
circulation. _Next year_, it was said, _there will be neither rich nor
poor_; _blood will cover the mountains_; _bones will fill the valleys_
(Ou fou, ou kioung; hue man chan, kou man tchouan.) These words were in
every one's mouth; the children repeated them in their sports; all were
under the domination of these sinister apprehensions when the year 1832
commenced. Spring and summer passed away without rain, and the frosts of
autumn set in while the crops were yet green; these crops of course
perished, and there was absolutely no harvest. The population was soon
reduced to the most entire destitution. Houses, fields, cattle,
everything was exchanged for grain, the price of which attained its
weight in gold. When the grass on the mountain sides was devoured by the
starving creatures, the depths of the earth were dug into for roots. The
fearful prognostic, that had been so often repeated, became accomplished.
Thousands died upon the hills, whither they had crawled in search of
grass; dead bodies filled the roads and houses; whole villages were
depopulated to the last man. There was, indeed, _neither rich nor poor_;
pitiless famine had levelled all alike.
It was in this dismal region that we awaited with impatience the courier,
whom, for a second time, we had dispatched into the kingdom of Naiman.
The day fixed for his return came and passed, and several others
followed, but brought no camels, nor Lama, nor courier, which seemed to
us most astonishing of all. We became desperate; we could not longer
endure this painful and futile suspense. We devised other means of
proceeding, since those we had arranged appeared to be frustrated. The
day of our departure was fixed; it was settled, further, that one of our
Christians should convey us in his car to _Tolon-Noor_, distant from the
Contiguous Defiles about fifty leagues. At _Tolon-Noor_ we were to
dismiss our temporary conveyance, proceed alone into the desert, and thus
start on our pilgrimage as well as we could. This project absolutely
stupified our Christian friends; they could not comprehend how two
Europeans should undertake by themselves a long journey through an
unknown and inimical country: but we had reasons for abiding by our
resolution. We did not desire that any Chinese should accompany us. It
appeared to us absolutely necessary to throw aside the fetters with which
the authorities had hitherto contrived to shackle missionaries in China.
The excessive caution, or rather the imbecile pusillanimity of a Chinese
catechist, was calculated rather to impede than to facilitate our
progress in Tartary.
On the Sunday, the day preceding our arranged departure, every thing was
ready; our small trunks were packed and padlocked, and the Christians had
assembled to bid us adieu. On this very evening, to the infinite
surprise of all of us, our courier arrived. As he advanced his mournful
countenance told us before he spoke, that his intelligence was
unfavourable. "My spiritual fathers," said he, "all is lost; you have
nothing to hope; in the kingdom of Naiman there no longer exists any
camels of the Holy Church. The Lama doubtless has been killed; and I
have no doubt the devil has had a direct hand in the matter."
Doubts and fears are often harder to bear than the certainty of evil.
The intelligence thus received, though lamentable in itself, relieved us
from our perplexity as to the past, without in any way altering our plan
for the future. After having received the condolences of our Christians,
we retired to rest, convinced that this night would certainly be that
preceding our nomadic life.
The night was far advanced, when suddenly numerous voices were heard
outside our abode, and the door was shaken with loud and repeated knocks.
We rose at once; the Lama, the camels, all had arrived; there was quite a
little revolution. The order of the day was instantly changed. We
resolved to depart, not on the Monday, but on the Tuesday; not in a car,
but on camels, in true Tartar fashion. We returned to our beds perfectly
delighted; but we could not sleep, each of us occupying the remainder of
the night with plans for effecting the equipment of the caravan in the
most expeditious manner possible.
Next day, while we were making our preparations for departure, our Lama
explained his extraordinary delay. First, he had undergone a long
illness; then he had been occupied a considerable time in pursuing a
camel which had escaped into the desert; and finally, he had to go before
some tribunal, in order to procure the restitution of a mule which had
been stolen from him. A law-suit, an illness, and a camel hunt were
amply sufficient reasons for excusing the delay which had occurred. Our
courier was the only person who did not participate in the general joy;
he saw it must be evident to every one that he had not fulfilled his
mission with any sort of skill.
All Monday was occupied in the equipment of our caravan. Every person
gave his assistance to this object. Some repaired our travelling-house,
that is to say, mended or patched a great blue linen tent; others cut for
us a supply of wooden tent pins; others mended the holes in our copper
kettle, and renovated the broken leg of a joint stool; others prepared
cords, and put together the thousand and one pieces of a camel's pack.
Tailors, carpenters, braziers, rope-makers, saddle-makers, people of all
trades assembled in active co-operation in the court-yard of our humble
abode. For all, great and small, among our Christians, were resolved
that their spiritual fathers should proceed on their journey as
comfortably as possible.
On Tuesday morning, there remained nothing to be done but to perforate
the nostrils of the camels, and to insert in the aperture a wooden peg,
to use as a sort of bit. The arrangement of this was left to our Lama.
The wild piercing cries of the poor animals pending the painful
operation, soon collected together all the Christians of the village. At
this moment, our Lama became exclusively the hero of the expedition. The
crowd ranged themselves in a circle around him; every one was curious to
see how, by gently pulling the cord attached to the peg in its nose, our
Lama could make the animal obey him, and kneel at his pleasure. Then,
again, it was an interesting thing for the Chinese to watch our Lama
packing on the camels' backs the baggage of the two missionary
travellers. When the arrangements were completed, we drank a cup of tea,
and proceeded to the chapel; the Christians recited prayers for our safe
journey; we received their farewell, interrupted with tears, and
proceeded on our way. Samdadchiemba,
[Picture: The Travellers setting out on their journey]
our Lama cameleer, gravely mounted on a black, stunted, meagre mule,
opened the march, leading two camels laden with our baggage; then came
the two missionaries, MM. Gabet and Huc, the former mounted on a tall
camel, the latter on a white horse.
Upon our departure we were resolved to lay aside our accustomed usages,
and to become regular Tartars. Yet we did not at the outset, and all at
once, become exempt from the Chinese system. Besides that, for the first
mile or two of our journey, we were escorted by our Chinese Christians,
some on foot, and some on horseback; our first stage was to be an inn
kept by the Grand Catechist of the Contiguous Defiles.
The progress of our little caravan was not at first wholly successful.
We were quite novices in the art of saddling and girdling camels, so that
every five minutes we had to halt, either to rearrange some cord or piece
of wood that hurt and irritated the camels, or to consolidate upon their
backs, as well as we could, the ill-packed baggage that threatened, ever
and anon, to fall to the ground. We advanced, indeed, despite all these
delays, but still very slowly. After journeying about thirty-five lis,
{16} we quitted the cultivated district and entered upon the Land of
Grass. There we got on much better; the camels were more at their ease
in the desert, and their pace became more rapid.
We ascended a high mountain, where the camels evinced a decided tendency
to compensate themselves for their trouble, by browzing, on either side,
upon the tender stems of the elder tree or the green leaves of the wild
rose. The shouts we were obliged to keep up, in order to urge forward
the indolent beasts, alarmed infinite foxes, who issued from their holes
and rushed off in all directions. On attaining the summit of the rugged
hill we saw in the hollow beneath the Christian inn of _Yan-Pa-Eul_. We
proceeded towards it, our road constantly crossed by fresh and limpid
streams, which, issuing from the sides of the mountain, reunite at its
foot and form a rivulet which encircles the inn. We were received by the
landlord, or, as the Chinese call him, the Comptroller of the Chest.
Inns of this description occur at intervals in the deserts of Tartary,
along the confines of China. They consist almost universally of a large
square enclosure, formed by high poles interlaced with brushwood. In the
centre of this enclosure is a mud house, never more than ten feet high.
With the exception of a few wretched rooms at each extremity, the entire
structure consists of one large apartment, serving at once for cooking,
eating, and sleeping; thoroughly dirty, and full of smoke and intolerable
stench. Into this pleasant place all travellers, without distinction,
are ushered, the portion of space applied to their accommodation being a
long, wide _Kang_, as it is called, a sort of furnace, occupying more
than three-fourths of the apartment, about four feet high, and the flat,
smooth surface of which is covered with a reed mat, which the richer
guests cover again with a travelling carpet of felt, or with furs. In
front of it, three immense coppers, set in glazed earth, serve for the
preparation of the traveller's milk-broth. The apertures by which these
monster boilers are heated communicate with the interior of the _Kang_,
so that its temperature is constantly maintained at a high elevation,
even in the terrible cold of winter.
[Picture: Kang of a Tartar-Chinese Inn]
Upon the arrival of guests, the Comptroller of the Chest invites them to
ascend the _Kang_, where they seat themselves, their legs crossed
tailor-fashion, round a large table, not more than six inches high. The
lower part of the room is reserved for the people of the inn, who there
busy themselves in keeping up the fire under the cauldrons, boiling tea,
and pounding oats and buckwheat into flour for the repast of the
travellers. The _Kang_ of these Tartar-Chinese inns is, till evening, a
stage full of animation, where the guests eat, drink, smoke, gamble,
dispute, and fight: with night-fall, the refectory, tavern, and
gambling-house of the day is suddenly converted into a dormitory. The
travellers who have any bed-clothes unroll and arrange them; those who
have none, settle themselves as best they may in their personal attire,
and lie down, side by side, round the table. When the guests are very
numerous they arrange themselves in two circles, feet to feet. Thus
reclined, those so disposed, sleep; others, awaiting sleep, smoke, drink
tea, and gossip. The effect of the scene, dimly exhibited by an
imperfect wick floating amid thick, dirty, stinking oil, whose receptacle
is ordinarily a broken tea-cup, is fantastic, and to the stranger,
fearful.
The Comptroller of the Chest had prepared his own room for our
accommodation. We washed, but would not sleep there; being now Tartar
travellers, and in possession of a good tent, we determined to try our
apprentice hand at setting it up. This resolution offended no one, it
was quite understood we adopted this course, not out of contempt towards
the inn, but out of love for a patriarchal life. When we had set up our
tent, and unrolled on the ground our goat-skin beds, we lighted a pile of
brushwood, for the nights were already growing cold. Just as we were
closing our eyes, the Inspector of Darkness startled us with beating the
official night alarum, upon his brazen _tam-tam_, the sonorous sound of
which, reverberating through the adjacent valleys struck with terror the
tigers and wolves frequenting them, and drove them off.
We were on foot before daylight. Previous to our departure we had to
perform an operation of considerable importance--no other than an entire
change of costume, a complete metamorphosis. The missionaries who reside
in China, all, without exception, wear the secular dress of the people,
and are in no way distinguishable from them; they bear no outward sign of
their religious character. It is a great pity that they should be thus
obliged to wear the secular costume, for it is an obstacle in the way of
their preaching the gospel. Among the Tartars, a _black man_--so they
discriminate the laity, as wearing their hair, from the clergy, who have
their heads close shaved--who should talk about religion would be laughed
at, as impertinently meddling with things, the special province of the
Lamas, and in no way concerning him. The reasons which appear to have
introduced and maintained the custom of wearing the secular habit on the
part of the missionaries in China, no longer applying to us, we resolved
at length to appear in an ecclesiastical exterior becoming our sacred
mission. The views of our vicar apostolic on the subject, as explained
in his written instructions, being conformable with our wish, we did not
hesitate. We resolved to adopt the secular dress of the Thibetian Lamas;
that is to say, the dress which they wear when not actually performing
their idolatrous ministry in the Pagodas. The costume of the Thibetian
Lamas suggested itself to our preference as being in unison with that
worn by our young neophyte, Samdadchiemba.
We announced to the Christians of the inn that we were resolved no longer
to look like Chinese merchants; that we were about to cut off our long
tails, and to shave our heads. This intimation created great agitation:
some of our disciples even wept; all sought by their eloquence to divert
us from a resolution which seemed to them fraught with danger; but their
pathetic remonstrances were of no avail; one touch of a razor, in the
hands of Samdadchiemba sufficed to sever the long tail of hair, which, to
accommodate Chinese fashions, we had so carefully cultivated ever since
our departure from France. We put on a long yellow robe, fastened at the
right side with five gilt buttons, and round the waist by a long red
sash; [Picture: Missionaries in Lamanesque Costume] over this was a red
jacket, with a collar of purple velvet; a yellow cap, surmounted by a red
tuft, completed our new costume. Breakfast followed this decisive
operation, but it was silent and sad. When the Comptroller of the Chest
brought in some glasses and an urn, wherein smoked the hot wine drunk by
the Chinese, we told him that having changed our habit of dress, we
should change also our habit of living. "Take away," said we, "that wine
and that chafing dish; henceforth we renounce drinking and smoking. You
know," added we, laughing, "that good Lamas abstain from wine and
tobacco." The Chinese Christians who surrounded us did not join in the
laugh; they looked at us without speaking and with deep commiseration,
fully persuaded that we should inevitably perish of privation and misery
in the deserts of Tartary. Breakfast finished, while the people of the
inn were packing up our tent, saddling the camels, and preparing for our
departure, we took a couple of rolls, baked in the steam of the furnace,
and walked out to complete our meal with some wild currants growing on
the bank of the adjacent rivulet. It was soon announced to us that
everything was ready--so, mounting our respective animals, we proceeded
on the road to Tolon-Noor, accompanied by Samdadchiemba.
We were now launched, alone and without a guide, amid a new world. We
had no longer before us paths traced out by the old missionaries, for we
were in a country where none before us had preached Gospel truth. We
should no longer have by our side those earnest Christian converts, so
zealous to serve us; so anxious, by their friendly care, to create around
us as it were an atmosphere of home. We were abandoned to ourselves, in
a hostile land, without a friend to advise or to aid us, save Him by
whose strength we were supported, and whose name we were seeking to make
known to all the nations of the earth.
As we have just observed, Samdadchiemba was our only travelling
companion. This young man was neither Chinese, nor Tartar, nor
Thibetian. Yet, at the first glance, it was easy to recognise in him the
features characterizing that which naturalists call the Mongol race. A
great flat nose, insolently turned up; a large mouth, slit in a perfectly
straight line, thick, projecting lips, a deep bronze complexion, every
feature contributed to give to his physiognomy a wild and [Picture:
Samdadchiemba] scornful aspect. When his little eyes seemed starting out
of his head from under their lids, wholly destitute of eyelash, and he
looked at you wrinkling his brow, he inspired you at once with feelings
of dread and yet of confidence. The face was without any decisive
character: it exhibited neither the mischievous knavery of the Chinese,
nor the frank good-nature of the Tartar, nor the courageous energy of the
Thibetian; but was made up of a mixture of all three. Samdadchiemba was
a _Dchiahour_. We shall hereafter have occasion to speak more in detail
of the native country of our young cameleer.
At the age of eleven, Samdadchiemba had escaped from his Lamasery, in
order to avoid the too frequent and too severe corrections of the master
under whom he was more immediately placed. He afterwards passed the
greater portion of his vagabond youth, sometimes in the Chinese towns,
sometimes in the deserts of Tartary. It is easy to comprehend that this
independent course of life had not tended to modify the natural asperity
of his character; his intellect was entirely uncultivated; but, on the
other hand, his muscular power was enormous, and he was not a little vain
of this quality, which he took great pleasure in parading. After having
been instructed and baptized by M. Gabet, he had attached himself to the
service of the missionaries. The journey we were now undertaking was
perfectly in harmony with his erratic and adventurous taste. He was,
however, of no mortal service to us as a guide across the deserts of
Tartary, for he knew no more of the country than we knew ourselves. Our
only informants were a compass, and the excellent map of the Chinese
empire by Andriveau-Goujon.
The first portion of our journey, after leaving Yan-Pa-Eul, was
accomplished without interruption, sundry anathemas excepted, which were
hurled against us as we ascended a mountain, by a party of Chinese
merchants, whose mules, upon sight of our camels and our own yellow
attire, became frightened, and took to their heels at full speed,
dragging after them, and in one or two instances, overturning the waggons
to which they were harnessed.
[Picture: Mountain of Sain-Oula]
The mountain in question is called _Sain-Oula_ (Good Mountain), doubtless
_ut lucus a non lucendo_, since it is notorious for the dismal accidents
and tragical adventures of which it is the theatre. The ascent is by a
rough, steep path, half-choked up with fallen rocks. Mid-way up is a
small temple, dedicated to the divinity of the mountain, _Sain-Nai_, (the
good old Woman;) the occupant is a priest, whose business it is, from
time to time, to fill up the cavities in the road, occasioned by the
previous rains, in consideration of which service he receives from each
passenger a small gratuity, constituting his revenue. After a toilsome
journey of nearly three hours we found ourselves at the summit of the
mountain, upon an immense plateau, extending from east to west a long
day's journey, and from north to south still more widely. From this
summit you discern, afar off in the plains of Tartary, the tents of the
Mongols, ranged semi-circularly on the slopes of the hills, and looking
in the distance like so many bee-hives. Several rivers derive their
source from the sides of this mountain. Chief among these is the
_Chara-Mouren_ (Yellow River--distinct, of course, from the great Yellow
River of China, the _Hoang-Ho_)--the capricious, course of which the eye
can follow on through the kingdom of _Gechekten_, after traversing which,
and then the district of _Naiman_, it passes the stake-boundary into
Mantchouria, and flowing from north to south, falls into the sea,
approaching which it assumes the name _Leao-Ho_.
The _Good Mountain_ is noted for its intense frosts. There is not a
winter passes in which the cold there does not kill many travellers.
Frequently whole caravans, not arriving at their destination on the other
side of the mountain, are sought and found on its bleak road, man and
beast frozen to death. Nor is the danger less from the robbers and the
wild beasts with whom the mountain is a favourite haunt, or rather a
permanent station. Assailed by the brigands, the unlucky traveller is
stripped, not merely of horse and money, and baggage, but absolutely of
the clothes he wears, and then left to perish from cold and hunger.
Not but that the brigands of these parts are extremely polite all the
while; they do not rudely clap a pistol to your ear, and bawl at you:
"Your money or your life!" No; they mildly advance with a courteous
salutation: "Venerable elder brother, I am on foot; pray lend me your
horse--I've got no money, be good enough to lend me your purse--It's
quite cold to-day, oblige me with the loan of your coat." If the
venerable elder brother charitably complies, the matter ends with,
"Thanks, brother;" but otherwise, the request is forthwith emphasized
with the arguments of a cudgel; and if these do not convince, recourse is
had to the sabre.
[Picture: First Encampment]
The sun declining ere we had traversed this platform, we resolved to
encamp for the night. Our first business was to seek a position
combining the three essentials of fuel, water, and pasturage; and, having
due regard to the ill reputation of the _Good Mountain_, privacy from
observation as complete as could be effected. Being novices in
travelling, the idea of robbers haunted us incessantly, and we took
everybody we saw to be a suspicious character, against whom we must be on
our guard. A grassy nook, surrounded by tall trees, appertaining to the
Imperial Forest, fulfilled our requisites. Unlading our dromedaries, we
raised, with no slight labour, our tent beneath the foliage, and at its
entrance installed our faithful porter, Arsalan, a dog whose size,
strength, and courage well entitled him to his appellation, which, in the
Tartar-Mongol dialect, means "Lion." Collecting some _argols_ {23} and
dry branches of trees, our kettle was soon in agitation, and we threw
into the boiling water some Kouamien, prepared paste, something like
Vermicelli, which, seasoned with some parings of bacon, given us by our
friends at Yan-Pa-Eul, we hoped would furnish satisfaction for the hunger
that began to gnaw us. No sooner was the repast ready, than each of us,
drawing forth from his girdle his wooden cup, filled it with Kouamien,
and raised it to his lips. The preparation was detestable--uneatable.
The manufacturers of Kouamien always salt it for its longer preservation;
but this paste of ours had been salted beyond all endurance. Even
Arsalan would not eat the composition. Soaking it for a while in cold
water, we once more boiled it up, but in vain; the dish remained nearly
as salt as ever: so, abandoning it to Arsalan and to Samdadchiemba, whose
stomach by long use was capable of anything, we were fain to content
ourselves with the _dry-cold_, as the Chinese say; and, taking with us a
couple of small loaves, walked into the Imperial Forest, in order at
least to season our repast with an agreeable walk. Our first nomade
supper, however, turned out better than we had expected, Providence
placing in our path numerous _Ngao-la-Eul_ and _Chan-ly-Houng_ trees, the
former, a shrub about five inches high, which bears a pleasant wild
cherry; the other, also a low but very bushy shrub, producing a small
scarlet apple, of a sharp agreeable flavour, of which a very succulent
jelly is made.
The Imperial Forest extends more than a hundred leagues from north to
south, and nearly eighty from east to west. The Emperor Khang-Hi, in one
of his expeditions into Mongolia, adopted it as a hunting ground. He
repaired thither every year, and his successors regularly followed his
example, down to _Kia-King_, who, upon a hunting excursion, was killed by
lightning at _Ge-ho-Eul_. There has been no imperial hunting there since
that time--now twenty-seven years ago. _Tao-Kouang_, son and successor
of _Kia-King_, being persuaded that a fatality impends over the exercise
of the chase, since his accession to the throne has never set foot in
_Ge-ho-Eul_, which may be regarded as the Versailles of the Chinese
potentates. The forest, however, and the animals which inhabit it, have
been no gainers by the circumstance. Despite the penalty of perpetual
exile decreed against all who shall be found, with arms in their hands,
in the forest, it is always half full of poachers and woodcutters.
Gamekeepers, indeed, are stationed at intervals throughout the forest;
but they seem there merely for the purpose of enjoying a monopoly of the
sale of game and wood. They let any one steal either, provided they
themselves get the larger share of the booty. The poachers are in
especial force from the fourth to the seventh moon. At this period, the
antlers of the stags send forth new shoots, which contain a sort of
half-coagulated blood, called _Lou-joung_, which plays a distinguished
part in the Chinese _Materia Medica_, for its supposed chemical
qualities, and fetches accordingly an exorbitant price. A _Lou-joung_
sometimes sells for as much as a hundred and fifty ounces of silver.
Deer of all kinds abound in the forest; and tigers, bears, wild boars,
panthers, and wolves are scarcely less numerous. Woe to the hunters and
wood-cutters who venture otherwise than in large parties into the
recesses of the forest; they disappear, leaving no vestige behind.
The fear of encountering one of these wild beasts kept us from prolonging
our walk. Besides, night was setting in, and we hastened back to our
tent. Our first slumber in the desert was peaceful, and next morning
early, after a breakfast of oatmeal steeped in tea, we resumed our march
along the great _Plateau_. We soon reached the great _Obo_, whither the
Tartars resort to worship the Spirit of the Mountain. The monument is
simply an enormous pile of stones, heaped up without any order, and
surmounted with dried branches of trees, from which hang bones and strips
of cloth, on which are inscribed verses in the Thibet and Mongol
languages.
[Picture: Buddhist Monuments]
At its base is a large granite urn in which the devotees burn incense.
They offer, besides, pieces of money, which the next Chinese passenger,
after sundry ceremonious genuflexions before the Obo, carefully collects
and pockets for his own particular benefit.
These Obos, which occur so frequently throughout Tartary, and which are
the objects of constant pilgrimages on the part of the Mongols, remind
one of the _loca excelsa_ denounced by the Jewish prophets.
It was near noon before the ground, beginning to slope, intimated that we
approached the termination of the plateau. We then descended rapidly
into a deep valley, where we found a small Mongolian encampment, which we
passed without pausing, and set up our tent for the night on the margin
of a pool further on. We were now in the kingdom of Gechekten, an
undulating country, well watered, with abundance of fuel and pasturage,
but desolated by bands of robbers. The Chinese, who have long since
taken possession of it, have rendered it a sort of general refuge for
malefactors; so that "man of Gechekten" has become a synonyme for a
person without fear of God or man, who will commit any murder, and shrink
from no crime. It would seem as though, in this country, nature resented
the encroachments of man upon her rights. Wherever the plough has
passed, the soil has become poor, arid, and sandy, producing nothing but
oats, which constitute the food of the people. In the whole district
there is but one trading town, which the Mongols call _Altan-Some_,
(Temple of Gold). This was at first a great Lamasery, containing nearly
2000 Lamas. By degrees Chinese have settled there, in order to traffic
with the Tartars. In 1843, when we had occasion to visit this place, it
had already acquired the importance of a town. A highway, commencing at
_Altan-Some_, proceeds towards the north, and after traversing the
country of the _Khalkhas_, the river _Keroulan_, and the _Khinggan_
mountains, reaches Nertechink, a town of Siberia.
The sun had just set, and we were occupied inside the tent boiling our
tea, when Arsalan warned us, by his barking, of the approach of some
stranger. We soon heard the trot of a horse, and presently a mounted
Tartar appeared at the door. "_Mendou_," he exclaimed, by way of
respectful salutation to the supposed Lamas, raising his joined hands at
the same time to his forehead. When we invited him to drink a cup of tea
with us, he fastened his horse to one of the tent-pegs, and seated
himself by the hearth. "Sirs Lamas," said he, "under what quarter of the
heavens were you born?" "We are from the western heaven; and you, whence
come you?" "My poor abode is towards the north, at the end of the valley
you see there on our right." "Your country is a fine country." The
Mongol shook his head sadly, and made no reply. "Brother," we proceeded,
after a moment's silence, "the Land of Grass is still very extensive in
the kingdom of Gechekten. Would it not be better to cultivate your
plains? What good are these bare lands to you? Would not fine crops of
corn be preferable to mere grass?" He replied, with a tone of deep and
settled conviction, "We Mongols are formed for living in tents, and
pasturing cattle. So long as we kept to that in the kingdom of
Gechekten, we were rich and happy. Now, ever since the Mongols have set
themselves to cultivating the land, and building houses, they have become
poor. The _Kitats_ (Chinese) have taken possession of the country;
flocks, herds, lands, houses, all have passed into their hands. There
remain to us only a few prairies, on which still live, under their tents,
such of the Mongols as have not been forced by utter destitution to
emigrate to other lands." "But if the Chinese are so baneful to you, why
did you let them penetrate into your country?" "Your words are the words
of truth, Sirs Lamas; but you are aware that the Mongols are men of
simple hearts. We took pity on these wicked _Kitats_, who came to us
weeping, to solicit our charity. We allowed them, through pure
compassion, to cultivate a few patches of land. The Mongols insensibly
followed their example, and abandoned the nomadic life. They drank the
wine of the Kitats, and smoked their tobacco, on credit; they bought
their manufactures on credit at double the real value. When the day of
payment came there was no money ready, and the Mongols had to yield, to
the violence of their creditors, houses, lands, flocks, everything."
"But could you not seek justice from the tribunals?" "Justice from the
tribunals! Oh, that is out of the question. The Kitats are skilful to
talk and to lie. It is impossible for a Mongol to gain a suit against a
Kitat. Sirs Lamas, the kingdom of Gechekten is undone!" So saying, the
poor Mongol rose, bowed, mounted his horse, and rapidly disappeared in
the desert.
We travelled two more days through this kingdom, and everywhere witnessed
the poverty and wretchedness of its scattered inhabitants. Yet the
country is naturally endowed with astonishing wealth, especially in gold
and silver mines, which of themselves have occasioned many of its worst
calamities. Notwithstanding the rigorous prohibition to work these
mines, it sometimes happens that large bands of Chinese outlaws assemble
together, and march, sword in hand, to dig into them. These are men
professing to be endowed with a peculiar capacity for discovering the
precious metals, guided, according to their own account, by the
conformation of mountains, and the sorts of plants they produce. One
single man, possessed of this fatal gift, will suffice to spread
desolation over a whole district. He speedily finds himself at the head
of thousands and thousands of outcasts, who overspread the country, and
render it the theatre of every crime. While some are occupied in working
the mines others pillage the surrounding districts, sparing neither
persons nor property, and committing excesses which the imagination could
not conceive, and which continue until some mandarin, powerful and
courageous enough to suppress them, is brought within their operation,
and takes measures against them accordingly.
Calamities of this nature have frequently desolated the kingdom of
Gechekten; but none of them are comparable with what happened in the
kingdom of Ouniot, in 1841. A Chinese _mine discoverer_, having
ascertained the presence of gold in a particular mountain, announced the
discovery, and robbers and vagabonds at once congregated around him, from
far and near, to the number of 12,000. This hideous mob put the whole
country under subjection, and exercised for two years its fearful sway.
Almost the entire mountain passed through the crucible, and such enormous
quantities of metal were produced, that the price of gold fell in China
fifty per cent. The inhabitants complained incessantly to the Chinese
mandarins, but in vain; for these worthies only interfere where they can
do so with some benefit to themselves. The King of Ouniot himself feared
to measure his strength with such an army of desperadoes.
[Picture: Military Mandarin]
One day, however, the Queen of Ouniot, repairing on a pilgrimage to the
tomb of her ancestors, had to pass the valley in which the army of miners
was assembled. Her car was surrounded; she was rudely compelled to
alight, and it was only upon the sacrifice of her jewels that she was
permitted to proceed. Upon her return home, she reproached the King
bitterly for his cowardice. At length, stung by her words, he assembled
the troops of his two banners, and marched against the miners. The
engagement which ensued was for a while doubtful; but at length the
miners were driven in by the Tartar cavalry, who massacred them without
mercy. The bulk of the survivors took refuge in the mine. The Mongols
blocked up the apertures with huge stones. The cries of the despairing
wretches within were heard for a few days, and then ceased for ever.
Those of the miners who were taken alive had their eyes put out, and were
then dismissed.
We had just quitted the kingdom of Gechekten, and entered that of Thakar,
when we came to a military encampment, where were stationed a party of
Chinese soldiers charged with the preservation of the public safety. The
hour of repose had arrived; but these soldiers, instead of giving us
confidence by their presence, increased, on the contrary, our fears; for
we knew that they were themselves the most daring robbers in the whole
district. We turned aside, therefore, and ensconced ourselves between
two rocks, where we found just space enough for our tent. We had
scarcely set up our temporary abode, when we observed, in the distance,
on the slope of the mountains, a numerous body of horsemen at full
gallop. Their rapid but irregular evolutions seemed to indicate that
they were pursuing something which constantly evaded them. By-and-by,
two of the horsemen, perceiving us, dashed up to our tent, dismounted,
and threw themselves on the ground at the door. They were
Tartar-Mongols. "Men of prayer," said they, with voices full of emotion,
"we come to ask you to draw our horoscope. We have this day had two
horses stolen from us. We have fruitlessly sought traces of the robbers,
and we therefore come to you, men whose power and learning is beyond all
limit, to tell us where we shall find our property." "Brothers," said
we, "we are not Lamas of Buddha; we do not believe in horoscopes. For a
man to say that he can, by any such means, discover that which is stolen,
is for them to put forth the words of falsehood and deception." The poor
Tartars redoubled their solicitations; but when they found that we were
inflexible in our resolution, they remounted their horses, in order to
return to the mountains.
Samdadchiemba, meanwhile, had been silent, apparently paying no attention
to the incident, but fixed at the fire-place, with his bowl of tea to his
lips. All of a sudden he knitted his brows, rose, and came to the door.
The horsemen were at some distance; but the Dchiahour, by an exertion of
his strong lungs, induced them to turn round in their saddles. He
motioned to them, and they, supposing we had relented, and were willing
to draw the desired horoscope, galloped once more towards us. When they
had come within speaking distance:--"My Mongol brothers," cried
Samdadchiemba, "in future be more careful; watch your herds well, and you
won't be robbed. Retain these words of mine on your memory: they are
worth all the horoscopes in the world." After this friendly address, he
gravely re-entered the tent, and seating himself at the hearth, resumed
his tea.
We were at first somewhat disconcerted by this singular proceeding; but
as the horsemen themselves did not take the matter in ill part, but
quietly rode off, we burst into a laugh. "Stupid Mongols!" grumbled
Samdadchiemba; "they don't give themselves the trouble to watch their
animals, and then, when they are stolen from them, they run about wanting
people to draw horoscopes for them. After all, perhaps, it's no wonder,
for nobody but ourselves tells them the truth. The Lamas encourage them
in their credulity; for they turn it into a source of income. It is
difficult to deal with such people. If you tell them you can't draw a
horoscope, they don't believe you, and merely suppose you don't choose to
oblige them. To get rid of them, the best way is to give them an answer
haphazard." And here Samdadchiemba laughed with such expansion, that his
little eyes were completely buried. "Did you ever draw a horoscope?"
asked we. "Yes," replied he still laughing. "I was very young at the
time, not more than fifteen. I was travelling through the Red Banner of
Thakar, when I was addressed by some Mongols who led me into their tent.
There they entreated me to tell them, by means of divination, where a
bull had strayed, which had been missing three days. It was to no
purpose that I protested to them I could not perform divination, that I
could not even read. 'You deceive us,' said they; 'you are a
_Dchiahour_, and we know that the Western Lamas can all divine more or
less.' As the only way of extricating myself from the dilemma, I
resolved to imitate what I had seen the Lamas do in their divinations. I
directed one person to collect eleven sheep's droppings, the dryest he
could find. They were immediately brought. I then seated myself very
gravely; I counted the droppings over and over; I arranged them in rows,
and then counted them again; I rolled them up and down in threes; and
then appeared to meditate. At last I said to the Mongols, who were
impatiently awaiting the result of the horoscope: 'If you would find your
bull, go seek him towards the north.' Before the words were well out of
my mouth, four men were on horseback, galloping off towards the north.
By the most curious chance in the world, they had not proceeded far,
before the missing animal made its appearance, quietly browzing. I at
once got the character of a diviner of the first class, was entertained
in the most liberal manner for a week, and when I departed had a stock of
butter and tea given me enough for another week. Now that I belong to
Holy Church, I know that these things are wicked and prohibited;
otherwise I would have given these horsemen a word or two of horoscope,
which perhaps would have procured for us, in return, a good cup of tea
with butter."
The stolen horses confirmed in our minds the ill reputation of the
country in which we were now encamped; and we felt ourselves necessitated
to take additional precaution. Before night-fall we brought in the horse
and the mule, and fastened them by cords to pins at the door of our tent,
and made the camels kneel by their side, so as to close up the entrance.
By this arrangement no one could get near us without our having full
warning given us by the camels, which, at the least noise, always make an
outcry loud enough to awaken the deepest sleeper. Finally, having
suspended from one of the tent-poles our travelling lantern, which we
kept burning all the night, we endeavoured to obtain a little repose, but
in vain; the night passed away, without our getting a wink of sleep. As
to the _Dchiahour_, whom nothing ever troubled, we heard him snoring with
all the might of his lungs until daybreak.
We made our preparations for departure very early, for we were eager to
quit this ill-famed place, and to reach _Tolon-Noor_, which was now
distant only a few leagues.
On our way thither, a horseman stopped his galloping steed, and, after
looking at us for a moment, addressed us: "You are the chiefs of the
Christians of the Contiguous Defiles?" Upon our replying in the
affirmative, he dashed off again; but turned his head once or twice, to
have another look at us. He was a Mongol, who had charge of some herds
at the Contiguous Defiles. He had often seen us there; but the novelty
of our present costume at first prevented his recognising us. We met
also the Tartars who, the day before, had asked us to draw a horoscope
for them. They had repaired by daybreak, to the horse-fair at
_Tolon-Noor_, in the hope of finding their stolen animals; but their
search had been unsuccessful.
The increasing number of travellers, Tartars and Chinese, whom we now
met, indicated the approach to the great town of _Tolon-Noor_. We
already saw in the distance, glittering under the sun's rays, the gilt
roofs of two magnificent Lamaseries that stand in the northern suburbs of
the town. We journeyed for some time through a succession of cemeteries;
for here, as elsewhere, the present generation is surrounded by the
ornamental sepulchres of past generations. As we observed the numerous
population of that large town, environed as it were by a vast circle of
bones and monumental stones, it seemed as though death was continuously
engaged in the blockade of life. Here and there, in the vast cemetery
which completely encircles the city, we remarked little gardens, where,
by dint of extreme labour, a few miserable vegetables were extracted from
the earth: leeks, spinach, hard bitter lettuces, and cabbages, which,
introduced some years since from Russia, have adapted themselves
exceedingly well to the climate of Northern China.
With the exception of these few esculents, the environs of _Tolon-Noor_
produce absolutely nothing whatever. The soil is dry and sandy, and
water terribly scarce. It is only here and there that a few limited
springs are found, and these are dried up in the hot season.
[Picture: Chinese Idol]
[Picture: City of Tolon-Noor]